In the course of a recent road trip, I spent much time riding in extreme heat. Environmental temperatures were often between the mid 90's and mid 100's ( between 94 and 104 degrees F).

A lot of that time was at highway or interstate speeds of 60 to 80 mph although there were periods of slow or no going in construction or high traffic zones. Humidity, for the most part, was low; but in Iowa and Illinois on the last day or two, the humidity was quite high with heat indices above 115 degrees at peak!

I was surprised then when I returned home to see my dealer and have the service manager ask me how hot the ZX-14R ran on the trip, because on a couple of other 14R's that they have sold; the owners reported sustained running temperatures of 220 to 240 degrees F recently! On my trip, I saw running temps as high as the low 200's (203 degrees, 207degrees) but only for relatively short periods of time while under way at speeds between 40 and 80 mph.

The highest temperatures I saw on the trip were momentary excursions into the the mid teens (215, 217 degrees F, but only when stopped dead and the engine off with the fans running.

The service manager said the other 14R's were continuously running at as much as 240 degrees F under way. He also said that Kawasaki "says that's normal; the bike just runs hot."

Did I just get a cold one? I've had a few women who ran cold... heh,heh. The service manager did preface his inquiry to me with the phrase: "running the Amsoil synthetic,..." I run Amsoil synthetic exclusively and I suppose that could make a difference in the efficiency and cooling rate of the engine under stress? I inferred that the other Zx-14R's that were running hot, were not using synthetic oil or at least not running Amsoil.

Bottom line: In this hot weather and high humidities around the country lately, what temperatures are your 14Rs running at? What is the experience of the forum members visa vis engine running temperatures in this hot summer of 2012?

It is refreshing to hear about a 14 or 14R running "cold". I don't have a 14R, but my 2010 ZX-14 also runs in the "cold" range and it has been scorching hot here in Pennsylvania. Temps have been in the 100-105 range. I use Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 oil.

Kofla

NINJA ZX-14 MotoVlog

That is the tempature my bike runs at 170-180*F cruising and around 198-204*F stopping and going through a city and slower speeds (20-35mph).

I hear ya Kofla.Went riding yesterday and man it was hot.Didn't go into any towns.Averaged 60mph and the bike was cool and so was I.
Craig

Hey PaulAB, my temps are right in line with yours. Yesterday I got stuck at a long light with it 108 degrees out and my mighty blue never went over 218. I was a little worried after first hearing about the 14r running hot, but not anymore. I'm also running Mobile synthetic.

In the high 90'sF here in south Florida, my 14R with non-synthetic(800 miles on the bike) never gets hotter than 205 in slow traffic, maybe 207 at a long stop-light. I think it runs nice and cool. Stock map with Two Brothers slip on's.
Mort

Haven't even seen 210 in 100 degree Texas weather, more like 203-204 even at stop lights. Running about 175-185 at cruise and aggressive riding. It does seem to run a tad warmer and heats up quicker since installing my Brocks CT Duals and PC5 though.

I wired up a switch for the fans manually... Makes a HUGE difference... Have never seen my bike go over 210 (that was after I shut it off and kept fans on).

The hottest temperature that I've seen on my 14R has been 208ºF while sitting stopped in Atlanta traffic on a 104ºF day.

Temperatures during highway speeds average between 175º-185ºF when the air temperature is hot. I usually run in the 160ºF range on cooler mornings when the air temperature is in the low 70's.

Judging from the response in this thread the bikes with operating temperatures of 240ºF are not normal.

I wired up a switch for the fans manually... Makes a HUGE difference

Seno, after reading about heating issues in other forums, I thought about doing the same thing. But, thank God, "knock on wood", I don't have that problem yet.

Kofla

I would get intouch with Ivan he's got a good hand on making them run cooler.

Yours sounds exactly like mine OP.

Tucson, AZ

Stock cycle. No flies, no map, no pipes, bone stock (and I like it that it's so strong, so smooth off the showroom floor).

Late Yesterday afternoon (07/18): 100-102 deg F OAT, RH 30% (pretty low today), Baro 30.05" (high press).

30 min freeway cruise @ 70 MPH (yeah, daily commute), in 6th gear. 195-205 deg., that's what I saw on an infrequent look-down.

10 min local, stop light-to-light traffic, after the fwy commute, 210-215 deg. (toasty on the calfs)

This morning (lookin like monsoon rains today, later): 80 deg F OAT, RH 60% (thats juicy), Baro 29.80" (standard press).

30 min freeway cruise @ 70 MPH, in 6th gear. 185-190 deg.

Does the 2012 actually have a temp gauge in numbers instead of a bar graf?

Yup.

Forgot to mention, above, I use regular dino oil. It's still got the 2nd service (post 600 mi) Kawa oil in it. Whose re-branded oil is it? Mobil?

I'll likely move to synthetic after I use this stuff as a lapping compound...

I'm the same as the rest here. 180'ish running and about 204 when I stop at a light and the fans come on. Never seen higher than 205 on mine so far but it's all stock (performance wise).